Category: Critical Thinking

Reading Time: 2 minutes COVID-19 has knocked us off our game plan – everything we know about moving forward shattered. Although I have been through some tough times in the past, I don’t fully remember how I responded. This time I am working with a group of CEOs and senior executives, and we are

Reading Time: < 1 minute Scott Fitzgerald once remarked that the “very rich are different than you and me” and supplied a long list of reasons.   If he were writing today he might have added that the rich read differently to that list. “Successful people know they are what they read”   according to this brief posting from

Reading Time: < 1 minute A Great American, RIP Vistage, the international peer group organization for CEOs and KEY executives is truly fortunate to have hundreds of subject matter experts who bring expertise and wisdom to its C-Level Members.  One of the most prominent was Vistage Speaker Herb Meyer who passed away recently from injuries suffered

Reading Time: < 1 minute If it’s early summer, it’s time for Mary Meeker’s (aka “Queen of the Internet”) annual report on internet trends.  Meeker is a partner at VC firm Kleiner Perkins and was named one the “The Ten Smartest People in Tech” by Fortune Magazine.  Her annual report on the internet is eagerly

Reading Time: 2 minutes “We could never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world.” Helen Keller 1880-1968 The Useless Class  The introduction of machinery into agriculture in the 1800s freed millions from the farm to flock to the cities where, fortunately, an industrial revolution was also occurring

Reading Time: < 1 minute A Solid Finish: The government shut down has also stopped the flow of data from Washington that economists rely upon for analysis and forecasting, but that hasn’t stopped Dr. Brian Wesbury from offering his best estimate of fourth quarter 2018 GDP growth.  Check out his one page summary of why he sees solid

Reading Time: < 1 minute A recent excellent HBR article that suggests  “business does not need the humanities, but humans do. “ This short HBR blog posting makes the case that we are creating a culture where “big data begets small minds “ and we run the risk of favoring the “unprepared overachiever.” The writer makes a compelling

Reading Time: < 1 minute When we are faced with a new problem, what is our first instinct? “How Do I Solve this Problem?”  Turn the question around – ask “Who Solves this Problem?” Here’s a valuable tool for your new venture from Peter Diamandis, successful entrepreneur, co-founder of over twenty companies, and founder of

Reading Time: < 1 minute Most of us have participated in a planning session using SWOT analysis  (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats).  Often, participants offer suggestions that however well-intentioned, are just “top of mind” or limited to their own area of responsibility or expertise.  This is especially true for weaknesses and threats which often come from outside

Reading Time: < 1 minute Tom Peters is one of the great management writers of all time, best known for his groundbreaking, “In Search of Excellence.”  Over a long career, Peters has distilled and shared significant wisdom from observing a wide range companies. In a recent short blog posting, he summarizes nearly four decades of work in six